Tony O’ Driscoll is living proof of Sir Alex Ferguson’s old adage ‘don’t pick your club pick your chairman’, according to Hayes & Yeading boss Garry Haylock.
O’ Driscoll picked Haylock in his first stint with United and quickly became both a confidante and mentor.
So perhaps it is no surprise the two men stayed in touch during his three years on the staff of League Two Exeter City.
And when the opportunity came up for a second spell with the Conference South outfit, this time Haylock was happy to return the compliment and choose O’Driscoll.
“Tony was director of football in my first time here as boss but in all honesty he was the assistant manager,” said Haylock.
“I used him as my sounding board. He didn’t go on the training pitch but he was my council and would always offer an opinion.
“He played a big role in any success I achieved because he taught me how to manage, not necessarily how to manage football, but how to manage people.”
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Chairman and manager do not always agree, but even when they have not been on the same page, O’ Driscoll has been humble enough to offer his five cents worth and then leave Haylock to get on with it.
It is a friendship he hopes will endure even if he is fortunate enough to end up managing higher up the football pyramid in the future.
“You don’t have to educate Tony, he has the experience and understands the problems,” he added. “If he had any issues with me he would talk to me. You don’t get to where he has in business by being a dictator.
“We’ve had differences of opinion but he would always leave it to me to make the decisions. I would like to think if 10 years’ time I am manager of Liverpool then I could even call on him then.”
Meanwhile, Tom Collins has returned to Hayes & Yeading and was part of the side beaten 1-0 at Basingstoke on Monday.
